Coughlin, DeBruijn Soar on Day Two of Santa Clara Int’l

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 28. IT'S "just another meet," merely a stepping stone on the road to Ft. Lauderdale (U.S. Nationals), Manchester (Commonwealth Games), erlin (European Championships) or Yokohama (Pan-Pacs)– all of which commence within the next six or seven weeks.

Right.

Just try telling that to Natalie Coughlin or Inge deBruijn, the latter of quadruple world-record and treble Olympic gold fame.

On the second evening of the 35th annual Santa Clara Invitational, the oldest continuous meet of its kind in the United States, the indefatiguable Ms C — quintuple American record-holder and NCAA Swimmer of
the Year her first two seasons at Cal — swam a blistering 54.93 pr to win the 100 free, then came back and finished just a tenth behind Inky in the
100 fly (58.87-58.97).

Coughlin's fly time blasts her old pr of 59.38 from last year's World Championship Trials in Austin, and her 100 free eclipses her old career-best of 55.68 from this meet a year ago.

How good is 54.93?

Second globally for the year behind China's Xu Yanwei's 54.82 from her nationals last April in Anshan, and No. 3 all-time on the U.S. list. Only
American record-holder Jenny Thompson (54.07 to win the Trials two years ago in Indianapolis) Dara Torres' 54.47 from the Janet Evans Invitational a month earlier and Angel Martino are faster.

Where will Ms Xu be the latter part of August? Quite likely in Yokohama, along with Coughlin and her American teammates.

Leading off Cal's 400 free relay at NCAAs last March in Austin, Coughlin set an American/NCAA record for the 100 yard free to go along with her ARs/NCAA marks in the 100-200 back and 100 fly. Her time for the 100 free was 47.47, which in turn broke the record set only a few moments earlier by Georgia's Maritza Correia en route to the race's gold medal (47.56).

Coughlin and Inge DeBruijn won't get to swim each other again "for real" this summer. However, rest well assurred Inky will see plenty of Coughlin at next year's World Championships in Barcelona, and quite likely a year later in Athens too.

Admittedly, Inky is using this meet to demonstrate her "fitness" to Dutch swim officials so she'll be part of her country's team at Berlin starting July 25. By the same token, Coughlin is using Santa Clara as a measuring rod (if you will) as she prepares for the U.S. Nationals in early August, then the Pan-Pacs, and then the collegiate season starting in September.

Her 58.9 100 fly also ranks her third globally for 2002, behind former SMU star (and Slovakian Olympian) Martina Moravcova. The latter went a seasonl pr 58.46 to win at Monte Carlo the first Sunday of this month.

Coughlin now ranks eighth on the all-time 100 fly U.S. performers' list. The American record belongs to the now-retired Torres (57.58 from the Olympic Trials). That time ranks the former University of Florida star No. 2 on the all-time world performers' list (fifth performance). Only Inky with a pair of 56s and a pair of 57 lows is faster.

Interstingly, Inky was top qualifier in the 100 free (57.36 to Coughlin's 57.63) but scratched the finals. In their 100 fly duel, deBruijn was out much faster than Coughlin (27.62-28.39) but the American got home considerably quicker.

DeBruijn holds the 50 fly world record with her 25.64 from the British Super Grand Prix at Sheffield in late May of Y2K. When she set her 100 wr at Sydney she was out in 26.67. Seven weeks earlier at Federal Way she went a then wr of 56.64, splitting an eye-popping 26.35 — fastest 50 ever in a 100 fly race. On her AR at the Trials, Torres split 26.50 — still the domestic standard for the 50 fly!

It's possible but not probable the Inky-Natalie show will be repeated in the 200 free but more likely in the 50 free on Sunday.

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Several leading Canadian swimmers, tuning up for Mancehster, swam last week at the TYR Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo, and they then stayed in the Golden State to train and compete here.

The move paid major dividends as Maple Leaf swimmers won four individual races and a relay too.

Morgan Knabe, who at the Canadian Nationals last March in Winnipeg set a Commonwealth record in the 100 breast (1:00.95) won in 1:02.20. His record was subsequently broken not quite a month later when Great Britain's James Gibson blasted to a then world-leading 1:00.69 during the British Trials in Manchester. (Japan's Kosuke Kitajima went 1:00.63 at the Japanese Trials two wweeks ago.) Knabe will have an opportunity to regain his record when the Games open July 25, which just happens to also be opening day for the European Championships. Normally Britain would compete in the latter but, as host nation for the Commonwealth Games, scratch that idea.

Runner-up to Knabe was Circle C's Brendan Hansen, who as a sophomore for Texas this past collegiate season set American/NCAA records en route to the 100-200 breast titles at NCAAs in Athens. Hansen was also World Champion in the 200 breast at Fukuoka last summer.

Similarly, Stanford's Tara Kirk, who won both breatstrokes with American/NCAA standards in Austin last March, won the 200 breast in 2:33.50. Her pr is 2:29.41 from last summer's Evans' Invitational, this year's version of which will be swum three weeks hence at USC's McDonald's Olympic Pool.

The other American to win was Sydney gold medalist (200 fly) Tom Malchow, who clocked 1:57.51 to Circle C's Tommy Hannan's 2:01.06.

Malchow, former world record-holder, has a pr of 1:55.03 from the semis at Fukuoka — fourth on the all-time performances' list, third performer. His seasonal pr is 1:55.13 that won the U.S. Nationals title in March at Minneapolis, and that ranks him second globally behind France's Franck Esposito's 1:54.62.

Esposito's time ranks him second all-time (performers-performances) to American Michael Phelps' 1:54.58 gold medal-winning swim at Fukuoka.

Malchow would like nothing more than to teach young Master Phelps a little respect at Ft. Lauderdale in what promises to be a "Battle of the Titans" — Round 2 — or, in the immortal words of a certain rather prominent former University of Tennessee coach, a
"showdown at the ol' water hole."

Other winners included University of British Columbia's Brian Johns (400 IM, 4:19.82) with Stanford's Ausrrian Olympian, Markus Rogan, a mere .03 back with a pr 4:19.85: his UBC teammate Jessica Deglau (400 free, 4:18.34), her countryman Rick Say (200 free, 1:50.18) and the BC Dolphins' men's 400 free relay team that touched irst in 3:25.29.

Johns' IM swim is just off his pr 4:19.25 from the Fukuoka prelims and also slightly behind his seasonal pr of 4:19.49 from the Canadian Trials. He ranks fourth globally behind Italy's World Champion Alessio Boggiatto, who swam a 4:16.40 at the Italian European Championship Trials in April, and Japan's Shinya Taniguchi (4.17.67) and Takahiro Mori (4.18.94) from the Japanese Trials two weeks ago.

Rogan's time, in addition to being his pr and an Austrian national record, moves the Cardinal NCAA Champ into fifth in the current rankings. He had never been much of a 400 IMer before this season and obviously has adapted to the event quite well. During the '01-'02 collegiate season he won several medley races in dual-meet competition, then won the Pac-10 title too with a conference- and Stanford-record 3:42.76 for 400 yards.

That time ranks Rogan eighth on the all-time performers' list, 13th performance and was third-fastest for the past season.

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DeBruijn's Tualatin Hills 400 free relay team (she's training there with Coach Paul Bergen, whom she trained with prior to Sydney and who helped develop the great Tracy Cualkins, among others) took second to Texas. She anchored in 55.68, fastest split of the race.

Coughlin swam the second leg on Cal's sprint relay and clocked a 56.68.